Main description:

The XVlIIth ISCEV symposium was organized by the Netherlands Ophthal- mic Research Institute and took place May 18-22, 1980, at the Wilhelmina Gasthuis in Amsterdam. The invited speakers and the theme "Electrophysio- logy and pathology of the visual pathways" were selected by a programme committee consisting of G.H.M. van lith, D. van Norren, L.H. van der Tweel and H. Spekreijse. The success of a symposium depends not only on the topics selected but also on the clarity and qUality of the presentations. In this respect it is a pleasure to acknowledge the four invited speakers for their clear and comprehensive presentations of recent research results. My co-editor, P. Apkarian, and I wish to thank all participants for timely submission of the manuscripts and for prompt response to inquiries regarding editorial matters. Mr. Peters of Junk Publishers should be acknowleged for observing publication deadlines, thus ensuring that the proceedings will reach all participants prior to the next ISCEV meeting.

Contents:

One: Visual Pathways: Basic Aspects.- Problems along the course of the second visual neuron-ganglion cell to lateral geniculate body.- Ethambutol mainly affects the function of red/green opponent neurons.- Chromatic signals in the visual pathway of the domestic cat.- Early wavelets in the VECP.- Early components of the visual evoked potential in man: are they of sub-cortical origin?.- Visual potentials evoked by pattern stimulation with different spatial frequencies in retrobulbar neuritis.- Two: Visual Pathways: Clinical Aspects.- Pattern evoked potential latency and contrast sensitivity in glaucoma and ocular hypertension.- Pattern evoked cortical potentials and automated perimetry in chronic glaucoma.- The transient pattern onset VEP in glaucoma.- Optic pathway action potentials and intraocular pressure (IOP) rise: a clinical and experimental study.- Temporal behaviour of VEPs in optic disc edemas.- The visual evoked potential in ischaemic optic neuropathy.- Visual physiologic and ocular evaluation in carotid occlusive disease:pre- and post-endarterectomy.- Comparison of visual field examination and visual evoked cortical potentials in multiple sclerosis patients.- VER findings in retrobulbar neuritis due to multiple sclerosis.- Three: Genetics and Degeneration.- Visual evoked potential (VEP) methods of detecting misrouted optic projections.- Visual evoked potential and psychophysical findings in dominant hereditary optic atrophy.- Electrophysiological studies of the visual capacities at advanced stages of photoreceptor degeneration in the rat.- Optic nerve changes in dominant cone-rod dystrophy.- Visual evoked potentials in pre-senile dementia.- Postoperative electrophysiological findings in patients with pituitary adenoma.- Four: Pattern Evoked Potential Latency.- Pattern reversal and appearance-disappearance responses in MS patients.- On- and off-contribution to the combined occipital on-off response to a patterned stimulus.- Pattern evoked potentials as indicators of functional visual field asymmetries.- Vector analysis of pattern VEP.- The visual evoked response latency in optic neuritis.- Influence of pupillary size on P100 latency time of pattern-reversal VEP.- VER and pupillary reflex.- Five: Binocularity.- Electrophysiology and psychophysics of motion in depth.- Interocular suppression in visually evoked cortical potentials (VECP).- The binocular VER: The effect of interocular luminance differences.- Monocularly evoked cortical potentials to simultaneous stimulation of central and peripheral human retina with different patterns.- Pattern evoked cortical potentials to simultaneous stimulation of both eyes.- Binocular facilitation in the VEP of normal observers and strabismic amblyopes.- A comparison of different VEP methods for the assessment of binocular vision.- Six: Central Aspects.- Cortical abnormalities and the visual evoked response.- The effects of temporal frequency changes on human pattern VECPs in response to upper and lower half field stimulation.- Visually evoked cortical potentials to half-field stimulation in normals and amblyopes.- Properties of foveal pattern stimuli which determine the morphology and scalp distribution of visual evoked potentials.- The contrast origin of pattern EPs in awake rhesus monkeys.- Changes in the visual evoked response during nitrous oxide inhalation.- Visually evoked and spontaneous potentials of the human cortex.- Evaluation of plasticity in human brains: VECP changes by training in normal subjects.- Contrast evoked potentials in the evaluation of suspected malingering.- Abstracts.- Cited Author's index.